Going Home
by whitem
Summary: Ron is really getting up in age, and he's been away from Middleton for too long. What happens when he decides to go home?A sad and angsty kind of story... one-shot.


Once again a story idea came to me, but not in the form of a plot bunny. This time it was this strange looking fellow whose initials are A.M. For those not in the know, that's Angst Monster. Hope y'all like…

Disclaimer: Must I keep telling everyone that I do not own any of the KP characters? Well, I guess I do, and I guess I just did. Although there is one OC of mine who has a small part…

Going Home

Ron stared at himself in the mirror for the 5th time that morning, looking at all the changes in his features. The sparse gray hair on his head, the wrinkles under his eyes, the bit of a gut that he had, and numerous other things that told him he was old… Very old.

He took a deep breath just as a light knock came on his door before it opened. A refined man in his late 60's entered the room, dressed in a black suit. He spoke with a slight British accent. "Are you ready Sir?"

"Yeah, I suppose I am." Ron ambled over to a nearby chair and picked up the suit coat that was lying over the back of the chair. His chauffeur and caretaker James stepped up to help Ron with the jacket, but Ron refused the help. "I can put a jacket on."

"Sorry Sir."

After a bit of trouble, Ron was able to get the jacket on without any assistance. He then looked at his driver. "James? How long have you worked for me now?"

"At least ten years, Sir."

"And in those ten years, what have I always told you?"

"To call you Ron, or Ronald, I believe Sir."

"Aaand?" Ron said with a bit of a glint in his eye.

"I believe my response has always been the same. 'I will try, Sir'." The younger man's lip curled up a bit at the discussion, as they had this same little bout for at least the last 5 years of his employ with Mr. Stoppable.

The two then walked out of the large house (mansion, really) and James opened the back door of the black car waiting for them. He then walked around to the other side, and sat in the driver's seat. His eyes went to the rear view mirror and he looked at the old man in the back seat once more. "I'll ask one more time Sir… Are you sure about this? I mean, it's been a year."

"Yes James, I am sure. A year is too long. I should have never left in the first place." Ron leaned back into the soft seat and closed his eyes. "If you don't mind, I think I'll rest for the drive. OK?"

"Very good Sir." Ron closed his eyes and fell asleep before they had even reached the freeway, and he dreamed.

…x x x x…

"Kim… will you stop fussing. You look great!" Ron walked up behind his wife as she sat in front of her mirror brushing her hair again for what Ron thought was the 50th time.

"I just want to look good for the party. I mean, it's not every day couples get to celebrate 75 years of marriage, you know."

"75?" Ron said as he stood behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. "I thought it was 100." Kim looked up at her husband and gave a bit of a pout. She pushed one of his hands off a shoulder and was about to respond with something, but she couldn't, as by now her lips were busy with her husbands.

After he finally straightened she said, "All this time and I _still_ can't stay mad at you."

Soft music was playing in the room from an old radio sitting on a nightstand, and a song came on that both immediately recognized. One of Ron's eyebrows raised, and he asked, "Care to dance?"

"I thought we had to get going." Kim said as she let Ron help her to stand.

"There's always time for a dance."

The two elderly folk blended into each other's arms as if they had done this for many years, which actually they had. They started out swaying from side to side, and gradually they started to move more, and actually spun a little.

At one particular point in their dancing, Kim's back was pressed into the front of Ron, and she was laughing as Ron lightly ran his fingers on her sides. Suddenly her body tensed and Kim stopped laughing.

"Kim? What's wrong?" Ron turned his wife around and he saw that her left arm was stiff, and she was clutching at her chest. He could see small beads of sweat forming on her upper lip. "Kim!" He quickly moved her to the edge of the bed and sat her down. "I'll get your medicine!"

As he tried to move away to get her medicine, a strong grip on his wrist stopped him. He looked at Kim with wide brown eyes as tears started to fall. He could barely hear Kim's words as she spoke.

"Not this time Baby. I love you Ron…"

…x x x x…

A bump in the road jarred Ron awake, and he was glad for the interruption of his dream. No, strike that… nightmare. He looked around for a bit, not immediately recognizing where he was, and then realized he was in the back seat of a car.

"The same dream, Sir?" James said from the front without turning his eyes from the road.

"Yes… yes it was."

"It's a good thing your awake sir… We're jus now entering town."

"Already?" Ron asked, rubbing his eyes awake. "I must have really been tired."

By now Ron started to look out the side window of the car, and he started to recognize certain parts of town. Middleton Pickle Works was still operational, but at least half of the original structure had been abandoned when new advancements had come along and refined the process. The original Middleton High School was still standing, or at least part of it was. The gym was still there, as well as the library, but the rest of the school had been torn down and rebuilt after the Lowardian invasion all those years ago. Ron had seen the rebuilt school a few times when he would come back for visits through college, but it just didn't have the same feel as the old school did. The one he and Kim had attended and walked the halls.

He was pleasantly surprised to see that the Grade School hadn't changed in the last year. Over the course of time, the original building had been added to and the front had been rebuilt a few times, but the original building was still there. A smile crossed Ron's face when he saw the huge oak tree next to the school. It was the same tree that he had first met Kim under, what was it now… 93 years ago?

"That can't be right…" He muttered to himself. "Let's see, we met when I was 5… I'm what… 98 now… carry the one… take it away… Yeah. 93 years ago."

Ron pressed the window button and lowered the glass so he could see a bit better. The air was cool, but not cold. It was definitely going to be an early fall this year. A small tear appeared at the corner of one of his eyes as he looked at the tree as they passed. For a split second Ron would have sworn he saw a little red headed girl handing a ball to a little blond boy under that same tree. He never noticed that James had slowed down as they drove by.

"Would you like me to drive around a bit more Sir?"

"I think you probably know the next place I would like to check out, James." Ron said with a sideways glance at his driver.

"Of course, Sir."

The drive itself wasn't very far, but to Ron it seemed to take forever. Everything he was now looking at, he immediately recognized. All the houses looked the same from years ago, and he even would recognize certain intersections as they passed through.

They drove by his house, and Ron could tell it was old and well used, but the current people living there had been taking very good care of the property. They didn't stop though, as this was not their current destination.

Not understanding why he was suddenly feeling nervous, Ron's hands started to clench, and release over and over. One more curve in the road, and they would be there. Suddenly the car stopped before arriving at the expected place and Ron looked up.

"What's wrong James? We're not there yet."

"Sir?" James said in a low voice, and Ron immediately knew that something was wrong. "It… appears that something has happened."

"What? What do you see?" Ron couldn't see down the hill from his vantage-point in the back seat, but James could see their destination clearly. "Let's go. I want to see her house again."

"Sir…" James started again, "I think you should prepare yourself."

"What? What is going on? I want to see Kim's old house. Now lets go."

Slowly the car moved forward, and Ron continued to look out the window. Kim and her family had rebuilt their house exactly as it was before the Lowardian Droid had destroyed it all those years ago, and he wanted to see it again. Even if someone else was now living there.

His mouth dropped as the house came into view for him. Or at least what was left of it. Now it looked like a burned out shell. "What… what happened?"

James dropped down a small keyboard from the dash of the car, and was immediately online with the local Internet. He found the news story, and read it to Ron.

"On August 18th, a fire of unknown origin destroyed the house that was once owned by the Possible Family. James and Anne Possible lived in the house for many years, before it was destroyed by the only alien attack ever on Earth. They rebuilt it and continued to live there until they passed away. The Possible twins lived there after their parents died for many years until their eventual deaths while saving the world from a resurgence of WWEE, the World Wide Evil Empire. Since then there has been only one owner of the house, and the family was on vacation when the fire broke out. The local Fire Forensics Lab think that an unknown can of fuel stored in a previously unknown storage facility in the garage may have broken down over time and reacted with the container. It's only a theory at this time, but the lab is almost 80 percent sure of their findings. When it is confirmed, the results will be posted on this web site. "

"J-200." Ron mumbled under his breath.

"What's that Sir?"

"The Tweebs… I mean Jim and Tim, had taken a can of their father's experimental fuel to experiment with on their own rockets. They must have hidden it. The fuel was found to break down over time and eventually would react with anything it was contained in. I bet anything the two of them forgot all about that can."

"Shall I notify the Fire Department Sir?" James said while holding onto a small phone, ready to make the call.

"No. I don't think it's necessary. I bet they will figure it out in a day or so." Ron winced a little and took abreath.

"Are you OK Sir?

"I'm fine James. My Auto Injector just put some more medicine into me is all."

"Do you still wish to go…"

"Yes." Ron said a bit harsher than he wanted to. "Sorry James. I didn't mean to snap."

"It's quite alright Sir, considering the circumstances."

The car pulled away from the burned out husk of the Possible home, and not another word was spoken between the two men until they reached the cemetery.

"I'll take you directly to the family plot, Sir." James said and slowly drove between large trees and tombstones of all shapes and sizes. After a short drive the car stopped, and James pressed a button on the dash, popping the trunk lid. He then got out, and opened the door for Ron, who once again refused the hand offered to him. James sighed as he stayed next to Ron to catch him if he started to fall, which he didn't.

The two walked around to the trunk. James reached in, and took out a long white box, which he handed to Ron. "Can you carry this Sir?" All Ron did was give him a look that said, 'Don't even TRY to take this from me'.

James took out two other boxes, which looked identical to the one he had handed to Ron, but a bit smaller. Both of them then walked up to the first marker, which was for James Possible.

James, the driver, gently set down all but one box, which he opened. He reverently placed a large bouquet of yellow roses into the built-in vase located at the bottom of the tombstone. Ron had picked the yellow roses to represent the warm feelings he felt towards Mr. Dr. P. as a true friend.

Next, was the marker for Anne Possible. For her, Ron had picked out a large bouquet of pink roses, which his driver was now placing on her stone. He had picked pink to represent his expression of strong admiration towards the mother of his wife, and for the job she did that she so loved, which was saving lives as a surgeon.

The following marker was for the twins, Jim and Tim. For them, Ron had selected white roses, to represent the honor and reverence he felt for them. They were thrust into adulthood way too soon when their home and school was destroyed all those years ago, but to everyone's amazement, they just seemed to take everything in stride, and then followed in their sister's foot steps in saving the world.

Finally, it was Kim's marker. Ron opened the box, and slowly knelt down to her grave. He gently placed the large bouquet of flowers that contained all of the previous colors, plus red to represent his love for her, and all of the other feelings that he felt for his departed wife. Tears started to fall down his cheeks as he quietly spoke.

"Kim… I'm so sorry it's been this long since I have visited. When you… died a year ago today, something just… snapped inside me. I just couldn't stay here. Everything around here reminded me of you. The house we lived in, and this entire town reminded me that you weren't with me anymore. I had to leave, or I would have drowned in my own grief. I wasn't eating or sleeping. Hana almost came back to the states from her globe-trotting just to take care of me, I had gotten so bad. I was able to convince her that I was OK, and then I moved to the north end of Upperton.

"That's where I've been living for the past year, but then our anniversary came around again, and I had to come back. I had to come home. (sniff) It really doesn't feel much like home though with you gone. Many things have changed, but yet it all seems the same.

"I just learned today that your house was destroyed in a fire." Ron chuckled a little. "I think it was because of the Tweebs. You always told them that they would eventually burn down the house… Well, I guess they actually did.

"I also saw the grade school… and the tree that we met under all those years ago? It's still there. The things **huge** now. I also saw my old house, and it's still there. Looks like someone is taking pretty good care of it. I've come back home to stay this time Kim, but I haven't truly come home… since you're not here. I love you, and I miss you so very much."

For a few seconds, Ron bowed his head and quietly said a prayer. When he finished, he was starting to feel the ache in his knees, as he couldn't stay in the position much longer.

Placing a hand on the tombstone, Ron pulled himself up, but as soon as he stood he knew something was wrong. A pain shot through his left arm, and his chest felt like a giant robotic flamingo was standing on it.

_Funny that I should think of that now…_ Ron absently thought to himself.

He felt himself shift to one side, and he thought he was going to fall, but he didn't. It was as if his hand was attached to the tombstone. While looking at his hand wondering why he didn't actually fall, Ron heard a voice that he hadn't heard in a years time.

"Ron?"

He lifted his head, and standing there on the grass just a few feet away was surely an angel. It looked like his Kim, but she looked no older than her early twenty's. Her red hair was almost radiant, and her green eyes were bright and so full of life. She wore her traditional mission garb of black crop top and green cargo pants. Once again an odd thought ran through his head wondering where she got the clothes as they had been out of circulation for many years.

"K… Kim? Is… Is that you?"

"Yes Ron… it's really me." Kim's arms opened wide, inviting him into her arms. "I've missed you Ronnie. It's time to come home."

With each step that he took towards Kim, Ron felt stronger and stronger. He looked down at his hands and saw the age spots were gone, and the knuckles were no longer swollen from minor arthritis. He never once noticed that on the ground next to Kim's grave, an old man was lying on his back being tended to by another man who was attempting to find a pulse, which there was none.

Ron reached Kim and they embraced each other tightly. Through his closed eyelids, Ron could see a bright white light, and for a fleeting second he thought he could feel the gentle caress of feathers on his cheek. He didn't care, as he was with Kim, and he was truly… Home."

The End…

* * *

Well… How'd I do with the descriptions and dialogue? I was hoping to evoke some powerful images for the reader.

So if anyone was looking for the Angst Monster, he was right behind me the entire time I was writing this. Now I also need to go to the store and get more milk and cookies…


End file.
